Buffalo Sabres & NHL 2020-2021

[May Day 10]

3 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

 

Therein lies the problem with the Sabres compared to the Bills.

 

On this current roster, there is not one player that is remotely considered a leader. Not one.

 

This is a huge problem with this team IMO.  

 

While Eichel has a ton of talent, he seems to be not be a very good teammate, let alone captain.  The team never seems particularly close to one another and it shows on the ice.  There seems to be little/no accountibility among the players.  They tried to foster that through Gionta/Gorges, and OReilly wanted to carry that torch but they were largely rejected by the likes of Eichel, Reinhart, Kane, and Bogosian.  

[4merper4mer]

6 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Skinner was literally 20 seconds of the entire 15 minute clip. He’s not being used the best way he should be. That’s basically all he said. And he brought up his goal scoring totals of the last seasons

It was the first thing he brought up after establishing that he is a hockey savant because he coached at a fairly high level, and it was longer than 20 seconds.  If he is such a masterful coach he has the ability to prioritize and Skinner is his top priority.  
 

He is correct that Skinner isn’t being used the best way......which would have been letting him walk.  Now we’re stuck with him for a long contract thanks to Botts and Murray setting up Botts for that particular failure.  The best way to use a currently crappy player on an expensive long term contract is to try to get him to be a better player, not to indulge his bad habits.  Okposo’s contract is expensive too but almost up; and he gives effort.  

[Jauronimo]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

You can keep burning through coaches if you want, go ahead and fire Kruger and bring in Julien or whatever other guy that got fired that you want.  But the problems with this team are obvious, and can be summed up in one word:

 

Eichel

 

He is getting paid to be a superstar and plays, at best, as an average NHL player.  He is being paid to be the captain and the leader, and is as far from a leader as you can get.  The goal yesterday where he lets the guy waltz right down to the front of the net to score, and then blames Dahlin, is a prime example of his nonsense.

And when your supposed leader does this, then it infects the entire team.

 

Get rid of the infection.  Trade Eichel and let him poison another franchise.  Get guys back that actually want to put forth some effort, go into the corners and hit guys, that want to actually earn their money when on the ice. Dahlin looks like he cares; give him the C on his jersey.  Or give it to Staal, a guy who understands what Cup winners need.

 

So far Eichel has burned through a former Stanley Cup winner in Bylsma, a guy that wanted to coach an attacking style in Housley, and now a guy that preaches process and accountability in Kruger.  And all three coaches can't get him going?   Please.

 

When Kruger was hired and then when Adams got lifted to GM, I saw the Sabres trying to do what worked for the Bills:  a coach and GM with a process they felt would lead to success, and who would work in tandem to get players would would match and align in that system.  Yes, some will say that their process is flawed, and that they need a coach and GM that match their system to the players.  But again, three coaches have tried to do that with a lot of the players on this roster, and none have succeeded?  That tells me it's the players and not the systems.  And the player most guilty is Eichel.  

Someone needs to scream at Dahlin because in two consecutive games he has stepped up to make a hit or pinched at terrible times and given up odd man rushes the other way resulting in goals.  Eichel is no position to criticize since his dog**** effort gift wrapped the goal last night as he didn't even attempt to tie up his man.  Eichel's line was completely ineffective all night except for one or two shifts with Skinner in place of Oloffson.  

 

EVERY COACH AND GM HAS A PROCESS!!!!  Having a process =/= success.  Executing the plan is another matter.

 

If Hall, Montour, and Okposo had the skill to convert on an empty net the discussion might be different today but as it stands this team is no different than the Sabres we watched the past 4 years.  Allergic to goals.

[BillsFan4]

18 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

You can’t see it in this replay, but after the goal Eichel turned and yelled at Dahlin for it. 🤷‍♂️
 

 

 

I was wrong. He was yelling at the ref about Coutourier holding his stick. He still doesn’t have anyone to blame but himself for that goal, but at least he wasn’t yelling at Dahlin, I guess.

[snafu]

11 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

I was wrong. He was yelling at the ref about Coutourier holding his stick. He still doesn’t have anyone to blame but himself for that goal, but at least he wasn’t yelling at Dahlin, I guess.

 

With the way Dahlin has played this season, he needs to get yelled at often.

He coasts. A lot.

 

 

[Chandler#81]

Hey! The Sabres didn’t lose today!

 

 

True, they didn’t score again, but it’s a start!😉👍

[Brennan Huff]

[4merper4mer]

28 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Not pictured: The lead weight known as Jeff Skinner around the ankles of that little Sabre kid.

[Brennan Huff]

9 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

Not pictured: The lead weight known as Jeff Skinner around the ankles of that little Sabre kid.

You’re pretty weird

[Jauronimo]

2 hours ago, Brennan Huff said:

You’re pretty weird

Just wait until he starts drawing comparisons between Skinner and some third world despot...

[BillsFan4]

 

Cozens showing heart! 

[K-9]

12 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

Cozens showing heart! 

Well, that’s at least one on the team.

[Rockpile233]

Goal this offseason should be to get as much of the roster turned over as possible. “Core” is awful and just doesn’t work together.

Bad attitudes and a void of leadership has plagued them for years. 

 

[May Day 10]

Team president and the end of amateur hour would be nice

[BillsFan4]

6 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

Team president and the end of amateur hour would be nice

Sure would. But I don’t see it happening, unless Ralph moves into a team president role.

 

Kevyn Adams hasn’t even hired any assistant GMs, and the Pegulas promoted him to GM (without even an interview) because apparently they felt “burned” by the experienced career hockey people they had running things before (which is crazy because they literally never had experienced hockey ops people running anything since they took over. Every GM was a rookie)...

 

 so I’d be shocked if they went outside the organization for a team president.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Draft picks from 2013 to 2017. In theory, these are the "mature" players who should be currently leading this team.

Bold = Currently playing for Sabres

 

2013    1    8    Rasmus Ristolainen
2013    1    16    Nikita Zadorov
2013    2    35    J. T. Compher
2013    2    38    Connor Hurley
2013    2    52    Justin Bailey
2013    3    69    Nicholas Baptiste
2013    5    129    Cal Petersen
2013    5    130    Gustav Possler
2013    5    143    Anthony Florentino
2013    6    159    Sean Malone
2013    7    189    Eric Locke
2014    1    2    Sam Reinhart
2014    2    31    Brendan Lemieux
2014    2    44    Eric Cornel
2014    2    49    Vaclav Karabacek
2014    3    61    Jonas Johansson
2014    3    74    Brycen Martin
2014    5    121    Maxwell Willman
2014    6    151    Christopher Brown
2014    7    181    Victor Olofsson
2015    1    2    Jack Eichel
2015    2    51    Brendan Guhle
2015    4    92    Will Borgen
2015    5    122    Devante Stephens
2015    6    152    Giorgio Estephan
2015    7    182    Ivan Chukarov
2016    1    8    Alexander Nylander
2016    2    33    Rasmus Asplund
2016    3    69    Cliff Pu
2016    3    86    Casey Fitzgerald
2016    4    99    Brett Murray
2016    5    129    Philip Nyberg
2016    5    130    Vojtech Budik
2016    6    159    Brandon Hagel
2016    7    189    Austin Osmanski
2016    7    190    Vasily Glotov
2017    1    8    Casey Mittelstadt
2017    2    37    Marcus Davidsson
2017    2    54    Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2017    3    89    Oskari Laaksonen
2017    4    99    Jacob Bryson
2017    7    192    Linus Weissbach
 

You can see how much they have "whiffed" on their drafting.

Edited March 3, 2021 by \GoBillsInDallas/

[May Day 10]

44 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

Sure would. But I don’t see it happening, unless Ralph moves into a team president role.

 

Kevyn Adams hasn’t even hired any assistant GMs, and the Pegulas promoted him to GM (without even an interview) because apparently they felt “burned” by the experienced career hockey people they had running things before (which is crazy because they literally never had experienced hockey ops people running anything since they took over. Every GM was a rookie)...

 

 so I’d be shocked if they went outside the organization for a team president.

 

 

No, I dont either.  When they fired Murray, Terry Pegula sat there in front of a microphone and said their biggest mistake was giving up control to somebody (LaFontaine).

 

That is what needs to happen.  Kicking Kruger to the front office does nothing.  He doesnt seem to have any idea how to win in the NHL, nor does he have any real NHL experience.  

 

They have almost no hockey staff right now save Kim and terry Pegula, Adams from Harborcenter, and Kruger from Soccer and Swiss hockey.  They also promoted 2 internal, inexperienced nobodies to all-encompassing umbrella roles of 'director of scouting' and 'director or analytics'.  

 

 

Things will not change until the Pegulas give up control to a Dudley, Lombardi, etc at the top of the organization.  It is in such disrepair it is a HEAVY lift.  This is much worse than the Bills ever were throughout the drought.  It is going to get worse when Eichel demands out, Reinhart wants out, all 3 of their NHL goalies are UFA, and they compound their bad decisions with more bad decisions (waiting for Hall's 8-year contract).

[ALF]

Ralph trying to change Skinner's style of play did not work last season , did not work this season. That's not good for $9M a year.

 

Good article by Paul Hamilton

 

https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/hamilton-buffalo-sabres-dont-have-the-players-to-execute-ralph-kruegers-system/71-d66793d8-d69b-4fa1-9c14-bd9c8d5f279c

Edited March 3, 2021 by ALF

[4merper4mer]

1 hour ago, ALF said:

Ralph trying to change Skinner's style of play did not work last season , did not work this season. That's not good for $9M a year.

 

Good article by Paul Hamilton

 

https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/hamilton-buffalo-sabres-dont-have-the-players-to-execute-ralph-kruegers-system/71-d66793d8-d69b-4fa1-9c14-bd9c8d5f279c

Skinner’s “style of play” was as conducive to helping a winning franchise as a Jackrabbit’s “style of running” would be to winning marathons.

[Jauronimo]

What was Dahlin doing on the first goal against?  Trying to draw the eventual goal scorer soccer Offside?